Praxair, Inc. (NYSE:PX) announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jim Sawyer, will retire on December 31, 2013, after 28 years of service with Praxair and its predecessor company, Union Carbide. Sawyer has served as Praxair’s CFO for 13 years. Matt White currently president, Praxair Canada, will succeed Sawyer as senior vice president and CFO, effective January 1, 2014. Sawyer will serve in an advisory capacity to the company until March 1, 2014. White was appointed president of Praxair Canada in 2011. He joined Praxair in 2004 as finance director of Praxair’s largest business unit, North American Industrial Gases. In 2008, he became vice president and controller of Praxair then was named vice president and treasurer in 2010. Before joining Praxair, White was vice president, finance at Fisher Scientific and prior to that he held various financial positions, including group controller at GenTek.

Support.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRT) announced the appointment of Roop K. Lakkaraju as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his tenure at Quantros, 2Wire and Solectron, Mr. Lakkaraju worked at Safeguard Scientifics, and at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton.

Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONS) announced the appointment of Mark T. Greenquist as chief financial officer. Greenquist was most recently CFO for Siemens Enterprise Communications Limited (recently rebranded to Unify). From 2007 until its acquisition by Ericsson in 2012, Greenquist served as President and CEO at Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Greenquist also served as Senior Vice President and CFO at Telcordia Technologies, Inc. from 2005 to 2007 prior to his promotion to CEO. Greenquist brings additional financial leadership experience from companies including Symbol Technologies Inc. and Agere Systems Inc. where he served as CFO as well as Delta Airlines Inc., Saab Automobile AB, GM Corporation and General Motors where he held a variety of financial leadership positions.

OneRoof Energy, Inc. announced Dan Halvorson has joined the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Most recently, Halvorson served as executive vice president-operations and chief financial officer for DivX, Inc. until its acquisition by Sonic Solutions. Prior to joining DivX, Halvorson held senior finance positions at a variety of technology and pharmaceutical companies, including Novatel Wireless, Inc. as its chief financial officer and Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which was acquired by Elan Corporation.

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) named Erin Gore, who was associate vice chancellor and chief financial officer at University of California, Berkeley, as co-head of its Education and Nonprofit Banking group. Gore had been U.C. Berkeley’s CFO since 2009. She began her career with the New York City Council Finance Division in 1996 as a budget analyst and then spent four years with Moody’s Investor Services as a public finance analyst. Gore joined the former Banc of America Securities in 2001, rising to co-head and managing director of its public finance education and nonprofit team.

G&K Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: GK) announced that Jeffrey L. Wright plans to retire as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. To ensure an orderly transition, Wright will continue in his current role until June 2014. Wright has served as G&K’s Chief Financial Officer for nearly 15 years, since joining the company in 1999. He was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2009, at which time he was also appointed to the company’s Board of Directors. In addition to leading G&K’s finance organization, Wright has led the company’s direct sale business, GKdirect®, since 2009. In addition, he served the industry as Chairman of the Textile Rental Services Association, from 2008 to 2010.

USA Compression Partners, LP (NYSE: USAC) announced that John D. Chandler joined the Board of Directors of its general partner as an independent director. Mr. Chandler currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Magellan GP, LLC, the general partner of Magellan Midstream Partners, LP. From 2003 until 2009, he served in the same capacities for the general partner of Magellan Midstream Holdings, L.P. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Chandler was Director of Financial Planning and Analysis and Director of Strategic Development for a subsidiary of The Williams Companies, Inc. From 1992 to 1999, Mr. Chandler held various accounting and finance positions with MAPCO Inc.

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: FURX) announced the appointment of Sailash Patel to the position of Chief Financial Officer, effective November 15, 2013. Mr. Patel replace Marshall Woodworth, who tendered his resignation to pursue other opportunities. Mr. Patel has been with Furiex since its spin-off from PPD LLC, and currently serves as Vice President of Strategic Development. Previously, Mr. Patel served as Vice President of Strategic Development for PPD.

BNSF Railway announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tom Hund will retire during the first quarter of 2014. Hund will be replaced at that time by Julie Piggott, currently Vice President, Planning and Studies, and Controller. Hund has been chief financial officer since 1999. Piggott has served in her current role since 2009. She previously served as vice president, Finance, and treasurer since 2006. Piggott joined BNSF in 1991 and has held various positions in Finance, including successive roles as assistant vice president, Strategic and Financial Analysis; assistant vice president, Expedited Services, in Consumer Products; and assistant vice president and assistant controller. Prior to joining BNSF, she was with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young and Corporate BancServices.

KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced that Brian K. Ferraioli has been appointed the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for six years at The Shaw Group. Before joining Shaw, Mr. Ferraioli served in numerous roles at Foster Wheeler AG. He began his Foster Wheeler career in 1979 as an internal auditor and rose through the corporate ranks, ultimately becoming a Vice President and Corporate Controller. Currently, Mr. Ferraioli also serves on the board of directors for The Babcock & Wilcox Co., and Adolfson & Peterson Construction.

Analogix Semiconductor, Inc. announced that veteran technology executive Mike Seifert has joined the privately held company as chief financial officer (CFO). Most recently, he served as CFO of PureWave Networks, Inc. Before that, he served as CFO of Multigig, Inc. until its successful 2012 merger with Analog Devices, Inc. He has previously served as CFO or corporate controller of Virage Logic Corp., Southwall Technologies Inc., SiteSmith, Inc., Compression Labs, Inc. and PMC-Sierra, Inc. Earlier in his career, he also spent 10 years with professional services firm Ernst & Young.

SED International Holdings (NYSE: SED) announced that it has hired Stephen M. Dexter as Interim CFO following the resignation of prior CFO Christopher R. Joe. From September 2012 to May 2013, he provided financial support consulting services to CDC Corporation, a former holding company of CDC Software, and to CDC Software, from June 2010 to August 2012. Mr. Dexter served as Chief Financial Officer of CDC Software, from September 2010 to August 2012, and as Chief Accounting Officer of CDC Software, from June 2010 to June 2011.

Evolucia Inc. (OTC: ILED) announced that its Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Charles B. Rockwood, has resigned from the Company for personal reasons. Rockwood will continue to support Evolucia in an advisory role following his resignation to ensure a smooth transition until a new CFO is appointed. In the interim, Mel Interiano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Evolucia, will serve as the principal financial officer until a replacement is named.

Herff Jones announced that John Pitts has been promoted from his current position as Chief Financial Officer of BSN SPORTS (“BSN”) to the same post at Herff Jones, effective immediately. Herff Jones acquired BSN, the largest distributor of team sporting goods and school sports apparel in the U.S., in May 2013. Pitts succeeds Mike Parrett, who earlier announced his decision to leave Herff Jones to pursue opportunities outside the company. Prior to joining BSN, Pitts served as Chief Financial Officer for Horizon Health. Prior experience includes Skylink America, Inc. where Pitts served as Controller.

Wabtec Corporation (NYSE: WAB) said Alvaro Garcia-Tunon has decided to retire as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective January 1, 2014. He will be succeeded by Patrick D. Dugan, who joined Wabtec in 2003 and has served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Controller, and as a member of the company’s Executive Office, since January 2012. Garcia-Tunon will remain with the company as a strategic adviser. He joined Wabtec in 1995 and served in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility prior to his appointment as CFO in March 2003. Dugan joined Wabtec as Vice President and Corporate Controller in 2003 and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2012. Previously, he served as CFO of CWI International and as a manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Cognitiv, Inc. (OTC: COGV) appointed Michael Hlavsa to Chief Financial Officer and Director. Michael was previously the chief financial officer and a director of Gerova Financial Group, Ltd. and Fund.com Inc. Michael also has served as chief executive officer for SunCruz Casinos, before forming Signature Gaming Management LLC, a consulting firm.

CTI Industries Corporation (NASDAQ: CTIB) announced the appointment of Timothy S. Patterson as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Patterson has been employed by the Company for 10 years, as Vice President, and Senior Vice President – Finance and Administration, and for the past three years, has acted as the principal accounting officer of the Company. Mr. Patterson will retain his office and title as Senior Vice President – Finance and Administration.

Square appointed David Viniar to its Board of Directors, where he will also serve as Audit Committee Chairman. Viniar was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Goldman Sachs, and is currently a member of its Board of Directors. After receiving a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, Viniar joined Goldman Sachs in 1980, where he amassed over 30 years of experience. He became the CFO in 1999 and served in that capacity for over 13 years. He was also the head of the Operations, Technology, Finance and Services Division.

Options Group International, LLC announced the departure of Ike Suri, Co-President and CFO. Mr. Suri resigned from OGI to pursue other opportunities, including launching a merchant bank, Pelican Point Capital Partners LLC.

Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBNT) announced it has named Rafael Torres, CFO of OCZ Technology Group and Ubiquiti CFO Craig Foster to the company’s board of directors. Since March of 2013, Rafael Torres has been the CFO of OCZ Technology Group. Prior to joining OCZ, Mr. Torres served as CFO and Vice President of Finance for Capella Photonics. From 2006 to 2008, Torres was the CFO and Vice President of Finance for Power Integrations. From 2000 to 2006, Mr. Torres was CFO and Vice President of Finance for PLX Technology.

SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) announced that it has appointed former Chief Financial Officer of TIAA-CREF, Georganne C. Proctor, as a new independent member of the Board and as a member of the Audit Committee. Ms. Proctor most recently having served from 2006 to 2010 as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for Enterprise Integration at TIAA-CREF. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF, Ms. Proctor served as Executive Vice President of Golden West Financial Corporation from 2003 to 2005 after an 18‑year career at Bechtel. During her time at Bechtel, Ms. Proctor served in roles of increasing importance including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1997 to 2002, as well as serving as a company director for three years. Prior to Bechtel, Ms. Proctor was finance director from 1991 to 1994 of certain divisions of global, diversified entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company. She previously served on the Board of Directors of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation.

Scripps Networks International, the global development arm of Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE: SNI), announced that Simone Nardi, who served in a lead financial role for NBC Universal’s international operations, has been named chief financial officer. Prior to that, he served as vice president and chief financial officer for NBC Universal’s business development division in New York. He also served briefly as interim chief financial officer and treasurer at Hulu. Nardi joined General Electric Industrial Systems in 1998 and completed its financial management program before moving to the corporate audit staff in 2001. NBC Universal formerly was an operating division of General Electric.

KMG Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: KMG) announced that John V. Sobchak has resigned as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in order to pursue other interests. Mr. Sobchak has served as KMG’s CFO since 2001. To ensure an orderly transition, Mr. Sobchak will continue with the company and perform the functions of a chief financial officer through the release of KMG’s earnings report for the first quarter and filing of the quarterly report in December. In the interim, Mr. Sobchak is transitioning his responsibilities to Hank Mullen, KMG’s Director of Business Development. Mr. Mullen joined KMG in 2008 following KMG’s acquisition of the high purity process chemicals business from Air Products & Chemicals. He also worked for AT&T Microelectronics and its successor companies Lucent Technologies and Agere Systems.

Perceptron, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRCP) announced that John H. Lowry, III, Vice President and CFO, plans to retire in fiscal 2014. It is expected that Mr. Lowry will be available to assist in the transition of his responsibilities for a period of time following his retirement.

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) announced that CFO and Executive Vice President Cheryl Beebe has decided to retire due to family health issues. Her retirement will be effective January 6, 2014. The company also announced that Jack Fortnum will become the next CFO. Jack Fortnum joined CPC International (Ingredion’s former parent company) in 1984. Fortnum is currently President, North America. Before moving to operational management, he held a wide range of key financial roles including Corporate Controller of Corn Products International from the time the Company was taken public until 2001. At CPC International, he was Vice President, Finance, Canadian Corn Refining business and Director, Finance, Latin American Corn Refining business.

RTT USA announced the appointment of Kevin Piontkowski as its new Chief Financial Officer. His most recent experience includes serving as Senior Vice President of Global Finance at Talascend (formerly Modern Engineering). Mr. Piontkowski has managed the financial structure of many leading organizations, including that of Sandy Corporation and Incat. Prior to joining Talascend in 2006, he was a top financial controller at Giffels.

Samuel Dergel

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